Humor in William Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor Through history, there have been many explanations at to why Shakespeare wrote the “Merry Wives of Windsor”. Some have argued that the play was written for the Garter Ceremony held on April 23, 1597, when the patron of Shakespeare’s company, Lord Hudson, was installed; supposedly, the play was later revised for public performance, around 1601. Shakespeare wrote the “Merry Wives of Windsor” as a comedy, however it does not obey all typical conventions of a Shakespearean comedy as noticeable differences in the plot show. Key parts of the play in which Shakespeare creates the main humour are the scenes in which the wives manage to humiliate and deceive Falstaff, a fat knight with a devious mind and inflated ego. A convention used repeatedly in this play to create verbal, and physical humour, is disguise and misunderstanding. Within the category of disguise and misunderstanding comes incongruity and ironic knowledge. In act 3, scene 3, the wives have discovered Falstaff’s identical letters to them both, and have secretly planned their revenge on him. The fact that the wives received the same letters in the first place shows the audience how little Falstaff actually cared for the women, and shows his desperation. This has a great affect on the audience’s reactions. The audience is pre-warned of the wives’ plans and early jokes by Mistress Ford prepare them for the visual humour approaching. “Without any pause or staggering take this basket on your shoulders: that done take it among the whitsters in Datchet-mead, and there empty it in the muddy ditch close by the Tha... ... middle of paper ... ... horns and turn into part deer, part man. The final scene, when the fairies torture Falstaff, seems like a scene of comedy rather than one of grief or sympathy. There is the added hilarity of Doctor Caius and Slender whisking away the wrong person, and finding themselves marrying a boy, instead of Anne Page. The play concludes as an entirely happy ending as Ford includes “Sir John and all” in his final speech. Although this is a rather unconventional comedy in some ways, the ending still consists of the protagonist overcoming the antagonist, creating a happy ending. It is also a farce due to the improbably and ludicrous events that take place throughout. Shakespeare’s great uses of comedic structures are extremely successful in creating not only a great comedy, but also one that has lasted the test of time.
In 1594 Shakespeare's audience would have been used to the convention of the friar or other religious persons as the brunt of jokes or humorous situation...
One of William Shakespeare’s best remembered plays for its comical and ironic tone is A Midnight’s Summer Dream. There were characters designed to be humorous and that alone. Puck and Bottom behave very much alike, and have similar roles for different people. Both Puck and Bottom are comic relief characters in one way or the other. Both of them are needed for the play, because Puck’s spirits controls the whole story, which sets the tone for it, and Bottoms comic relief for the audience and play.
In the play Othello, Shakespeare uses many literary devices to help the reader understand the theme of the story. One of those many literary devices used in the play, is the wide range of irony. Throughout the pages of the book the reader will see the use of dramatic, situational, and verbal irony. Shakespeare does not use irony in an understated way, it is very direct, and can be found on almost every page of the book. The use of irony creates suspense, and adds interest as to what will happen.
“The Canterbury Tales” was written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer. These tales constitutes a frame story which each pilgrim has to tell their own story to the Chaucer, the pilgrim; not the poet. As we know, the tale itself is a satire, but the stylistic structure in the tales creates a sense that can be a parody as well. To support this idea of parody, it is need to know the definition of parody and how Chaucer use this style to make his own ideas clear through the general prologue and the tales such as “The Miller’s Tale” and “The Knight’s Tale”.
toward his tasks is sort of a light and airy one. He does not take life
seriously as we can see that he is not meant to be a character that we
On the surface, Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night may seem like to the run of the mill Shakespearean comedy. It has loads of the ingredients you would typically see in a Shakespeare play; love being the be all end all, revenge, and yes, cross-dressing. Aside from dramatics, this comedy embodies the fundaments of the battle of the sexes; the age-old conflict is reminiscent to how gender roles are to this day. Man vs. Woman, or the main ingredient as it is, sets the ball rolling for the tone and the social construct of the comedy. Viola, disguised as Cesario, says, “Disguise, I see thou art a wickedness wherein the pregnant enemy does much. How easy it is for the proper-false in women 's waxen hearts to set their forms!” (Twelfth Night, II.ii 27-30.) This quote alone expresses not only the ambiguity of gender through identity, but also the way men portray female’s inferiority and deceitfulness. Despite the male protagonists ' view on women 's incapability to love, Viola 's
In this playwright The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the author uses many types of writing to make this play interesting. Suspense is the first of the three used and is the most common in this play. The second type will be dramatic irony since it is used a lot but not as often as suspense, and finally, the third type is tragedy. In this playwright there are many types of play writing forms used, so I will only cover the big three.
What is comedy? Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia says: "A comedy depicts the follies and absurdities of human beings." Webster's Dictionary defines comedy as: "A drama or narrative with a happy ending." Shakespeare's play, Measure for Measure, fits both of these descriptions. Follies and absurdities are present in the play: Lucio slanders the Duke, not realizing that his crude remarks are being spoken to the Duke himself; Angelo abuses his power thinking that the Duke is not present to know; and Ragozine happens to die in prison the day a head is needed to substitute for Claudio's. The play also ends on several merry notes, consistent with the definition of comedy. For example, Angelo's life is spared and he is forgiven; Mariana is married to Angelo; the Duke punishes Lucio humorously with marriage; Barnardine is pardoned; and Claudio is saved. The parallels between Measure for Measure and three other Shakespearean comedies, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night, also help to classify Measure for Measure as a comedy. In Measure for Measure, like in The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night, an arbitrary law or obstacle is eventually overcome; a disguised character affects the outcome of the play; a clown adds humor to the plot; a female character bears a large responsibility for the final resolution; and forgiveness and reconciliation mark the conclusion of the action.
Laughter and humor are ongoing topics amongst philosophers to ponder and to determine what makes one laugh, what’s funny? Thomas Hobbes’ theory, though short, is one that is a central point of reference, to date, when analyzing what makes us laugh. According to Hobbes “the passion of laughter is nothing but sudden glory arising from sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others” (Hobbes 458). Hobbes believes that it’s one’s superior feelings over another person’s inferiorities that the superior finds humorous, which result in laughter. He also theorizes on Wit. Wit, by the comedic definition, is natural aptitude for using words and ideas in a quick and inventive way to create humor. Hobbes also views wit as being natural and consisting of: “celerity of imagining – that is swift succession of one thought to another – and steady direction to some approved end. (Hobbes 458). Wit, or one’s quick wittedness, can be put back into Hobbes’ equation that suggests what we find funny is that which one can experience from an unsympathetic distance allowing him to laugh at another’s infirmities.
After Olivia has her very first conversation with Cesario (Viola), where he tries to woo her for Duke Orsino, she immediately falls in love with him. After Cesario leaves her palace, Olivia says to herself ‘Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit do give thee fivefold blazon. Not too fast; soft, soft. Unless the master were the man. How now? Even so quickly may one catch the plague?’ Here Olivia states that Cesario’s external features are what attract her to him. Her metaphor contains a s...
To conclude, therefore, conflict is not absent from the play totally. It is As You Like It's knowledge and recognition of the dangers of love "Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love" and is still capable of being love struck: the affection being like "Bay of Portugal", and how it plays off that against the comedic exuberance of its interludes, verbal sparring and digressionary expositions, that provides the drama of the play. "Sweet", indeed, "are the uses of adversity".
that Olivia is in love with him is a good example of a humorous and
Many professors, analysts, and common readers believe that Great Expectations was possibly the best work of Charles Dickens. Perhaps it was because of the diverse themes displayed by Dickens, which modulate as the story progresses. A clear example of the measures taken by the author to create diversity, is the application of irony. Dickens uses Rony to create suspense and conflict in plot events related to Estella, Miss Havisham, the convict, Joe, and Mrs. Joe.
Shakespearian comedies have some common characteristics which are found in The Tempest. The first characteristic of Shakespearian comedy is that there is a struggle of young lovers. They have to go through many adversaries to achieve their love. Miranda is a passive character and Ferdinand is also not the hero of the play. But they are the important couple of the play. Miranda is shown as a meek lady who is very faithful to her love when she says, “I am your wife, if you will marry me; / If not, I’ll die your maid” (III.i.83–84). Along with the struggle of the lovers, the protagonist also is shown going through several adversaries. The exile theme is one of the major themes in Shakespearian comedies. For example in Just like Prospero, in “As You Like It”, Duke Senior was exiled by Fredrick. Rosalind’s adverse journey starts from here. Rosalind is portrayed as a strong lady; hence she becomes the real hero of the play. But in The Tempest, Miranda’s character is portrayed as a weak person. Unlike Rosalind from As You Like It, Miranda is not the influential lady in the play.